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Outhouse Editor

• Grant Morrison weaves the history of Clark Kent’s early days in Metropolis!

For those who'll be unable to grab a physical copy, you can find a digital copy here.

Ze rules:

Review as often or as little as you like. Once you've posted 5 reviews, you will be awarded 1 pick. You can post 5 reviews, right? That's a totally achievable goal and with day and date digital releases becoming the standard, it shouldn't matter if your shop ordered enough copies of this weeks comic or not.

When multiple Review Groupers have posted 5 (or more) qualifying reviews, they will be awarded their pick in the order that they qualified. What constitutes a qualifying review? Any review posted (with a score on a scale from 0-10, that's right 0!) within 1 calendar month of the thread going live. Reviews are to be at least 5 sentences long. It shows that a) you have at least read this week's pick and b) you have some unique insight into the comic.

Reviews posted while waiting in line for your pick will be applied to your next pick.

I'll be keeping track of everyone's progress with the newly christened Spreadsheet of Fantastic (RIP, Spreadsheet of Doom) and reporting the results in the Current Members list in the weekly OP. When it's your turn to make a pick, I will PM you. If you do not respond to me by Midnight EST the following Sunday, you will lose your pick and I will start a poll to determine that week's selection.

Any week in which we do not have a Review Grouper with 5 qualifying picks, we will determine the week's comic via poll.

If it's your week to pick, remember to keep it under $3.99.

Naturally, this new system is new and it may be necessary to make changes as we go.

Since no one has 5 reviews under their belt, I'll set up a poll by week's end to determine next week's pick.

• Grant Morrison weaves the history of Clark Kent’s early days in Metropolis!

For those who'll be unable to grab a physical copy, you can find a digital copy here.

Ze rules:

Review as often or as little as you like. Once you've posted 5 reviews, you will be awarded 1 pick. You can post 5 reviews, right? That's a totally achievable goal and with day and date digital releases becoming the standard, it shouldn't matter if your shop ordered enough copies of this weeks comic or not.

When multiple Review Groupers have posted 5 (or more) qualifying reviews, they will be awarded their pick in the order that they qualified. What constitutes a qualifying review? Any review posted (with a score on a scale from 0-10, that's right 0!) within 1 calendar month of the thread going live. Reviews are to be at least 5 sentences long. It shows that a) you have at least read this week's pick and b) you have some unique insight into the comic.

Reviews posted while waiting in line for your pick will be applied to your next pick.

I'll be keeping track of everyone's progress with the newly christened Spreadsheet of Fantastic (RIP, Spreadsheet of Doom) and reporting the results in the Current Members list in the weekly OP. When it's your turn to make a pick, I will PM you. If you do not respond to me by Midnight EST the following Sunday, you will lose your pick and I will start a poll to determine that week's selection.

Any week in which we do not have a Review Grouper with 5 qualifying picks, we will determine the week's comic via poll.

If it's your week to pick, remember to keep it under $3.99.

Naturally, this new system is new and it may be necessary to make changes as we go.

Since no one has 5 reviews under their belt, I'll set up a poll by week's end to determine next week's pick.

Son of Stein

So a young Superman get's blasted and falls into an alley unconscious. A little kid finds him there and instead of helping him, the little turd steals his cape.

Of course as luck would have it, the kid had a drunk and abusive dad who decides to go homicidal and kill the kid. Luckily the stolen cape is so strong it breaks the knife. The kid runs away and ends on some train tracks where the dad find him (after stopping to get another bottle of hooch).

The kid gets his foot stuck in the rails as an train roars towards him....

Meanwhile and earlier, Clark gets an apartment, orders some t-shirts and then gets a job. Jimmy begs Lois to come meet his friend Clark and together they arrive just in time to see the dad stand by while his kid is about to get trained down.

That's when Clark jumps in and stops the train.

Cops take the dad away and Lois coins the name Superman. The End.

To say this issue was completely worthless is probably an understatement.

This kid basically rolls a sick or dying man in the alley and he's the one we're supposed to sympathize with? The generic and stereotypical abusive dad tries to kill his own son twice was more comical than scary. I laughed when the the cape broke dad's knife when he poked it. Not because the cape isn't super strong and nothing can pierce it, rather why the cape didn't just fold itself around the knife and into the kid (in the very next panel the cape easily folds around the kid's fist so it should have done the same with the knife). And I verbally chuckled when the train tracks trapped the kids foot - I haven't seen this tired device since Snidley Whiplash' (by the way, in the panel where the kid is saved, his foot isn't stuck anywhere).

This issue was bad (not god 'bad' but really just bad. I'm not sure how Morrison could have made it worse).

Thankfully Ben Oliver is there to make an improvement on Morrison's pedestrian story - except he doesn't. Pacing is off and panels, while I'd guess the rough pencils looked good are just... empty. Colors try to compensate for this but really didn't help much.

All in this issue couldn't have been worse if they tried.

Oh wait, there's a back-up story featuring some guy trying to find Adam Blake (Captain Comet or whatever name he uses in the new 52). He finds him and in the last panel's super spectacular reveal - the guy is "Erik Drekken" !!!!!

Who? I had to google him to find out he was in the book about half a year ago. The writing and story for this back-up tried to build on the Morrison mythology before asking whether or not it should. At least the art by Cafu was good.

Son of Stein

So a young Superman get's blasted and falls into an alley unconscious. A little kid finds him there and instead of helping him, the little turd steals his cape.

Of course as luck would have it, the kid had a drunk and abusive dad who decides to go homicidal and kill the kid. Luckily the stolen cape is so strong it breaks the knife. The kid runs away and ends on some train tracks where the dad find him (after stopping to get another bottle of hooch).

The kid gets his foot stuck in the rails as an train roars towards him....

Meanwhile and earlier, Clark gets an apartment, orders some t-shirts and then gets a job. Jimmy begs Lois to come meet his friend Clark and together they arrive just in time to see the dad stand by while his kid is about to get trained down.

That's when Clark jumps in and stops the train.

Cops take the dad away and Lois coins the name Superman. The End.

To say this issue was completely worthless is probably an understatement.

This kid basically rolls a sick or dying man in the alley and he's the one we're supposed to sympathize with? The generic and stereotypical abusive dad tries to kill his own son twice was more comical than scary. I laughed when the the cape broke dad's knife when he poked it. Not because the cape isn't super strong and nothing can pierce it, rather why the cape didn't just fold itself around the knife and into the kid (in the very next panel the cape easily folds around the kid's fist so it should have done the same with the knife). And I verbally chuckled when the train tracks trapped the kids foot - I haven't seen this tired device since Snidley Whiplash' (by the way, in the panel where the kid is saved, his foot isn't stuck anywhere).

This issue was bad (not god 'bad' but really just bad. I'm not sure how Morrison could have made it worse).

Thankfully Ben Oliver is there to make an improvement on Morrison's pedestrian story - except he doesn't. Pacing is off and panels, while I'd guess the rough pencils looked good are just... empty. Colors try to compensate for this but really didn't help much.

All in this issue couldn't have been worse if they tried.

Oh wait, there's a back-up story featuring some guy trying to find Adam Blake (Captain Comet or whatever name he uses in the new 52). He finds him and in the last panel's super spectacular reveal - the guy is "Erik Drekken" !!!!!

Who? I had to google him to find out he was in the book about half a year ago. The writing and story for this back-up tried to build on the Morrison mythology before asking whether or not it should. At least the art by Cafu was good.

OMCTO

"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

OMCTO

"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

Staff Writer

Considering that this title started at the reboot (5 years behind the other titles), pretty much all the setup and back stories had already been done so Morrison didn't have a lot of new or unknown stuff to pull together.

I don't understand the Ben Oliver-hate. The guy did some great stuff this issue. And he draws one studly Man O' Steel

Staff Writer

Considering that this title started at the reboot (5 years behind the other titles), pretty much all the setup and back stories had already been done so Morrison didn't have a lot of new or unknown stuff to pull together.

I don't understand the Ben Oliver-hate. The guy did some great stuff this issue. And he draws one studly Man O' Steel

Last edited by IvCNuB4 on Sun Sep 09, 2012 2:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Outhouse Editor

Eli Katz wrote:"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

Outhouse Editor

Eli Katz wrote:"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

Outhouse Editor

Written by SCOTT SNYDERBackup story written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IVArt by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPIONBackup story art by ANDY CLARKECover by GREG CAPULLOVariant cover by ANDY CLARKE1:100 B&W Variant cover by GREG CAPULLO“We Can Be Heroes” Blank variant cover availableOn sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED TCombo pack edition: $4.99 USRetailers: This issue will ship with four covers. Please see the order form for more information.• Bruce Wayne has returned from his worldwide quest to take the law into his own hands!• This issue reveals the early steps of building everything that surrounds Batman – the costume, the cave, the car, the gadgets!This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Outhouse Editor

Written by SCOTT SNYDERBackup story written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IVArt by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPIONBackup story art by ANDY CLARKECover by GREG CAPULLOVariant cover by ANDY CLARKE1:100 B&W Variant cover by GREG CAPULLO“We Can Be Heroes” Blank variant cover availableOn sale SEPTEMBER 12 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED TCombo pack edition: $4.99 USRetailers: This issue will ship with four covers. Please see the order form for more information.• Bruce Wayne has returned from his worldwide quest to take the law into his own hands!• This issue reveals the early steps of building everything that surrounds Batman – the costume, the cave, the car, the gadgets!This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Staff Writer

My favourite aspect of Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics was the t-shirt wearing, low-powered, fight-for-the-people idea of Superman. But that ended up being an idea that Morrison dispensed with pretty quickly, returning quickly to sci-fi aliens and a full costume. But with this Zero Issue, he brought it back, and unsurprisingly, I loved it. This issue shows the New 52 Superman’s first adventure, and it doesn’t go too well, he’s immediately shot with a bazooka and loses his cape. The cape is picked up by a little kid who then uses it to protect his family from their drunken abusive father. It was a great touch to have Superman inspire heroism before he was even really Superman, and the scenes of our hero in action were very exciting, and very well-drawn by Ben Oliver. Morrison also uses this issue to show us Clark’s first meeting with Mrs Nyxly, and it looks more and more likely that his run on this book is some kind of Mr Mxyzptlk epic, an attempt to make Superman’s most ridiculous villain work in the 21st Century. I hope he succeeds. We also find out Jimmy Olsen’s new origin story, although it’s interesting that he’s crashing on Clark’s couch in the ‘Superman’ title, what happened to all his money? This was a strong issue, returning this book to what I personally wanted it to be for a little longer, but still with plenty of the classic Superman feel. The back-up story from Scholly Fisch and CAFU was good too, providing more information about Captain Comet from the previous arc. Is Erik Drekken a name I’m supposed to recognize? It rings a bell.

Staff Writer

My favourite aspect of Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics was the t-shirt wearing, low-powered, fight-for-the-people idea of Superman. But that ended up being an idea that Morrison dispensed with pretty quickly, returning quickly to sci-fi aliens and a full costume. But with this Zero Issue, he brought it back, and unsurprisingly, I loved it. This issue shows the New 52 Superman’s first adventure, and it doesn’t go too well, he’s immediately shot with a bazooka and loses his cape. The cape is picked up by a little kid who then uses it to protect his family from their drunken abusive father. It was a great touch to have Superman inspire heroism before he was even really Superman, and the scenes of our hero in action were very exciting, and very well-drawn by Ben Oliver. Morrison also uses this issue to show us Clark’s first meeting with Mrs Nyxly, and it looks more and more likely that his run on this book is some kind of Mr Mxyzptlk epic, an attempt to make Superman’s most ridiculous villain work in the 21st Century. I hope he succeeds. We also find out Jimmy Olsen’s new origin story, although it’s interesting that he’s crashing on Clark’s couch in the ‘Superman’ title, what happened to all his money? This was a strong issue, returning this book to what I personally wanted it to be for a little longer, but still with plenty of the classic Superman feel. The back-up story from Scholly Fisch and CAFU was good too, providing more information about Captain Comet from the previous arc. Is Erik Drekken a name I’m supposed to recognize? It rings a bell.

Swedish Pinata of Death

Amoebas wrote:So a young Superman get's blasted and falls into an alley unconscious. A little kid finds him there and instead of helping him, the little turd steals his cape.

Of course as luck would have it, the kid had a drunk and abusive dad who decides to go homicidal and kill the kid. Luckily the stolen cape is so strong it breaks the knife. The kid runs away and ends on some train tracks where the dad find him (after stopping to get another bottle of hooch).

The kid gets his foot stuck in the rails as an train roars towards him....

Meanwhile and earlier, Clark gets an apartment, orders some t-shirts and then gets a job. Jimmy begs Lois to come meet his friend Clark and together they arrive just in time to see the dad stand by while his kid is about to get trained down.

That's when Clark jumps in and stops the train.

Cops take the dad away and Lois coins the name Superman. The End.

To say this issue was completely worthless is probably an understatement.

This kid basically rolls a sick or dying man in the alley and he's the one we're supposed to sympathize with? The generic and stereotypical abusive dad tries to kill his own son twice was more comical than scary. I laughed when the the cape broke dad's knife when he poked it. Not because the cape isn't super strong and nothing can pierce it, rather why the cape didn't just fold itself around the knife and into the kid (in the very next panel the cape easily folds around the kid's fist so it should have done the same with the knife). And I verbally chuckled when the train tracks trapped the kids foot - I haven't seen this tired device since Snidley Whiplash' (by the way, in the panel where the kid is saved, his foot isn't stuck anywhere).

This issue was bad (not god 'bad' but really just bad. I'm not sure how Morrison could have made it worse).

Thankfully Ben Oliver is there to make an improvement on Morrison's pedestrian story - except he doesn't. Pacing is off and panels, while I'd guess the rough pencils looked good are just... empty. Colors try to compensate for this but really didn't help much.

All in this issue couldn't have been worse if they tried.

Oh wait, there's a back-up story featuring some guy trying to find Adam Blake (Captain Comet or whatever name he uses in the new 52). He finds him and in the last panel's super spectacular reveal - the guy is "Erik Drekken" !!!!!

Who? I had to google him to find out he was in the book about half a year ago. The writing and story for this back-up tried to build on the Morrison mythology before asking whether or not it should. At least the art by Cafu was good.

Story - 2Art - 5Overall - 3.5

Eli Katz wrote:"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

Punchy wrote:My favourite aspect of Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics was the t-shirt wearing, low-powered, fight-for-the-people idea of Superman. But that ended up being an idea that Morrison dispensed with pretty quickly, returning quickly to sci-fi aliens and a full costume. But with this Zero Issue, he brought it back, and unsurprisingly, I loved it. This issue shows the New 52 Superman’s first adventure, and it doesn’t go too well, he’s immediately shot with a bazooka and loses his cape. The cape is picked up by a little kid who then uses it to protect his family from their drunken abusive father. It was a great touch to have Superman inspire heroism before he was even really Superman, and the scenes of our hero in action were very exciting, and very well-drawn by Ben Oliver. Morrison also uses this issue to show us Clark’s first meeting with Mrs Nyxly, and it looks more and more likely that his run on this book is some kind of Mr Mxyzptlk epic, an attempt to make Superman’s most ridiculous villain work in the 21st Century. I hope he succeeds. We also find out Jimmy Olsen’s new origin story, although it’s interesting that he’s crashing on Clark’s couch in the ‘Superman’ title, what happened to all his money? This was a strong issue, returning this book to what I personally wanted it to be for a little longer, but still with plenty of the classic Superman feel. The back-up story from Scholly Fisch and CAFU was good too, providing more information about Captain Comet from the previous arc. Is Erik Drekken a name I’m supposed to recognize? It rings a bell.

9/10

One of these things is not like the others,One of these things just doesn't belong,Can you tell which thing is not like the othersBy the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?If you guessed this one is not like the others,Then you're absolutely...right!

Swedish Pinata of Death

Amoebas wrote:So a young Superman get's blasted and falls into an alley unconscious. A little kid finds him there and instead of helping him, the little turd steals his cape.

Of course as luck would have it, the kid had a drunk and abusive dad who decides to go homicidal and kill the kid. Luckily the stolen cape is so strong it breaks the knife. The kid runs away and ends on some train tracks where the dad find him (after stopping to get another bottle of hooch).

The kid gets his foot stuck in the rails as an train roars towards him....

Meanwhile and earlier, Clark gets an apartment, orders some t-shirts and then gets a job. Jimmy begs Lois to come meet his friend Clark and together they arrive just in time to see the dad stand by while his kid is about to get trained down.

That's when Clark jumps in and stops the train.

Cops take the dad away and Lois coins the name Superman. The End.

To say this issue was completely worthless is probably an understatement.

This kid basically rolls a sick or dying man in the alley and he's the one we're supposed to sympathize with? The generic and stereotypical abusive dad tries to kill his own son twice was more comical than scary. I laughed when the the cape broke dad's knife when he poked it. Not because the cape isn't super strong and nothing can pierce it, rather why the cape didn't just fold itself around the knife and into the kid (in the very next panel the cape easily folds around the kid's fist so it should have done the same with the knife). And I verbally chuckled when the train tracks trapped the kids foot - I haven't seen this tired device since Snidley Whiplash' (by the way, in the panel where the kid is saved, his foot isn't stuck anywhere).

This issue was bad (not god 'bad' but really just bad. I'm not sure how Morrison could have made it worse).

Thankfully Ben Oliver is there to make an improvement on Morrison's pedestrian story - except he doesn't. Pacing is off and panels, while I'd guess the rough pencils looked good are just... empty. Colors try to compensate for this but really didn't help much.

All in this issue couldn't have been worse if they tried.

Oh wait, there's a back-up story featuring some guy trying to find Adam Blake (Captain Comet or whatever name he uses in the new 52). He finds him and in the last panel's super spectacular reveal - the guy is "Erik Drekken" !!!!!

Who? I had to google him to find out he was in the book about half a year ago. The writing and story for this back-up tried to build on the Morrison mythology before asking whether or not it should. At least the art by Cafu was good.

Story - 2Art - 5Overall - 3.5

Eli Katz wrote:"The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape" -- what a great title. I had high hopes for this issue -- really, I did -- and I only read it because the title sounded so promising, a classic in the making. But it is, at best, a mediocre issue. I'm not going to say it's downright awful, but it strikes me as completely unnecessary. It just feels so empty. And perhaps that's because the art is often devoid of backgrounds or depth. The figure work is strong, but the storytelling, in places, is weak. And Metropolis appears to be an almost-abandoned city.

Punchy wrote:My favourite aspect of Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics was the t-shirt wearing, low-powered, fight-for-the-people idea of Superman. But that ended up being an idea that Morrison dispensed with pretty quickly, returning quickly to sci-fi aliens and a full costume. But with this Zero Issue, he brought it back, and unsurprisingly, I loved it. This issue shows the New 52 Superman’s first adventure, and it doesn’t go too well, he’s immediately shot with a bazooka and loses his cape. The cape is picked up by a little kid who then uses it to protect his family from their drunken abusive father. It was a great touch to have Superman inspire heroism before he was even really Superman, and the scenes of our hero in action were very exciting, and very well-drawn by Ben Oliver. Morrison also uses this issue to show us Clark’s first meeting with Mrs Nyxly, and it looks more and more likely that his run on this book is some kind of Mr Mxyzptlk epic, an attempt to make Superman’s most ridiculous villain work in the 21st Century. I hope he succeeds. We also find out Jimmy Olsen’s new origin story, although it’s interesting that he’s crashing on Clark’s couch in the ‘Superman’ title, what happened to all his money? This was a strong issue, returning this book to what I personally wanted it to be for a little longer, but still with plenty of the classic Superman feel. The back-up story from Scholly Fisch and CAFU was good too, providing more information about Captain Comet from the previous arc. Is Erik Drekken a name I’m supposed to recognize? It rings a bell.

9/10

One of these things is not like the others,One of these things just doesn't belong,Can you tell which thing is not like the othersBy the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?If you guessed this one is not like the others,Then you're absolutely...right!